Betting Odds
by VerelLupin
Summary: Lily and Severus make a bet...who do you think won?
1. Chapter 1

**I love Snape, I hope you like it as much as I did.**

**Enjoy...**

**Reviews welcome even flames...**

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Lily Evans whined, battling her lashes in a deliberate flirtatious manner. "Come on, Sev. You promised. You're not about to welsh on a bet, are you?" Severus regarded Lily. She was currently using a most unfair method of wheedling.

"I do recall the bet was dependent on you." He remarked eyeing her. "I won," she paused. "Besides we didn't say what the winner would get. So I get to choose anything I want."

Severus asked, "Within reason, right Lily…Lily?" She ignored him, pulling him across the grounds and towards the lake. "Are you sure you were sorted into the right house," he muttered. Lily stuck her tongue out at him but continued to drag him along.

They sat by one of the many trees on the grounds, relaxing against a tree trunk. Severus was trying to ignore the fact that she was sitting between his legs, her back free of its usual black robe. It was certainly a sun lit day; the weather was warm but breezy.

Lily settled more comfortably against him, unaware of the boy's discomfort. After all she was busy admiring the squid. Its tentacles were rowing back and forth, propelling it slowly around the lake. "That looks like fun, don't you think?" She quizzically leaned her head back

Lily could feel Severus' adam apple bob up and down, her own face betraying a certain warmth at their sudden proximity. He looked down at her and nodded, too terrified to actually utter a word.

She sat up quickly, hiding her blush behind a mane of red hair. "Since I won, you have to do what I say." Lily said, adjusting herself so she was face to face with him. "What do I have to do?" he asked.

"Meet me in the library after dinner." She replied, with that she tweaked his nose and ran off. Her laughter carried on the wind and back to him.

Severus spent the better part of the day, wondering what Lily had up her sleeve. She was a Gryffindor by nature but the way she acted, he suspected inside her beat the heart of a Slytherin.

He was mentally preparing himself for whatever she had up her sleeve, when he turned the corner and nearly lost his dinner. James Potter and Sirius Black had Lily cornered.

An intense hatred boiled in his very being at the sight of James' peacock performance. "So, Evans you studying late?" James asked, running a practiced hand through his messy black hair.

Lily rolled her eyes clearly not impressed. "What gave me away, standing outside the library or the books in my arms?" She said snidely.

Sirius let out a bark of laughter, earning a cross look from James. "Excuse me, Severus wait up." she said making her way past the gob smacked brunettes. Severus stood rooted to the floor, his face showing every bit of surprise at being addressed by her.

"Let's go, were already late." She exclaimed, taking his arm and propelling him forcibly down the nearest staircase. Severus began to protest, but was silenced by the fire in her normally cool eyes.

Severus did turn back slightly, just enough to send a righteously placed smirk to the boys standing open mouthed behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, here's the next chapter. I have this thing for flashbacks.**

**I apologize for the reader frustration. Hopefully this helps!**

**This is not the end...I promise.**

**Thanks to my reviewers, you guys rock!!**

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**The Bet - 1 wk ago - Potions Class**

"Are you actually implying you are better than me at potions?" Lily hissed. Her voice pitched low enough that only Severus would hear her. The corner of his mouth lifted, a smirk firmly in place.

"I taught you how to fix your potion last week, remember. You would have melted the inside of your cauldron if I had not helped you." she whispered indignantly. "You distracted me, it was only fair you fix the damage." he replied earnestly.

"All I did was point out the wrong ingredient. You spilled it." In reality, she had reached over to let him know that the **Abyssinian Shrivelfig **was the ingredient he needed. In her haste, she had tripped on her robe landing sprawled on the floor. The Belladonna he had been preparing for tomorrow's lesson had fallen from his hand and into his cauldron.

The whole chunk had reacted violently with the rest of the ingredients and had began to corrode his cauldron. Much to his mortification, Prof. Spenner had made an example of his potion as shoddy work due to not concentrating. After that they spent the rest of the period avoiding each other in every way.

Severus frowned but made no comment, "We both think, were the best so how about a duel?" he asked. She thought about his proposal and countered, "How about a potion duel instead. We both brew the most difficult potion we know and have the other test it."

"We need an expert." he muttered quickly scribbling made up notes as Prof. Spenner watched their table suspiciously. "We could ask the Prof. Maybe he'd be willing to judge. We could claim its for extra points." she suggested, twirling a strand of red hair thoughtfully.

She went back to her parchment, diligently copying the instructions on the blackboard. Insistent tugging caught her attention, she reluctantly put down her quill. "What?" she whispered. Severus had turned a peculiar shade of red that made his already sallow skin appear even more unhealthy. "Whatdoesthe winnerget?" he uttered quickly.

"What? I don't understand you." she said a smile creeping onto her face. "What.Does.The.Winner.Get," each word pronounced through clenched teeth. "Oh….Hmmm." Lily chewed her lip for a second before replying. "Anything they want."

Severus knew he should breathe, he knew his mouth was hanging wide open and Lily was staring at him as if he had gone mad. "Anything," his voice breaking on the last syllable. Lily having realized what her words could amount to, felt her skin heat up with embarrassment.

She pushed it aside. She leaned and placing her mouth inches from his ear, assured him. "Well…yeah. Anything."

Severus dropped his head, his face obscured by his dark hair. "Deal."


	3. Chapter 3

**I meant this to be a one shot but as you can see it's gotten away from me**

**Oh well, here you are. **

**Enjoy**

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Severus and Lily had agreed to wait until the sub. Professor Spenner, was gone and Professor Slughorn returned from his extended vacation.

It was a running gag that Prof. Slughorn went all little too festive in some of his parties and had to recuperate for several days. Lily and Severus spent many hours in the library going through complicated potions textbooks.

They were despairing of ever finding a suitably complicated potion, when she flipped across one of the potions in Most Potente Potions Book. She elbowed Severus, he looked up from his book and perused what she was pointing at.

"Where will we get these ingredients?" he asked, "We can always ask the Prof. remember we are in pursuit of the art of potion making." She giggled at his sour expression. "Lighten up, Sev. Maybe we'll learn to enslave the mind and ensnare the senses."

Severus chocked back a laugh, shoving her. She shoved him back and they broke into peals of laughter. Madam Bovariet glared at them as they collected their stuff and headed out.

Slughorn had lent her his copy only because she was apparently in the pursuit of elegant potion making. The man was rubbish at teaching but was rather endearing in every other function.

**Slughorn's Office two hours earlier**

"Professor Slughorn, may I have a word," Lily poked her head into the Prof's office. Slughorn was busy grading papers, every now and then muttering about the incompetence of substitutes.

"Miss Evans, you are always most welcome in my classroom. To what do I owe this charming visit?" he asked placing his quill back in its holder.

Lily sat down on the chair, careful to keep the angelic persona all the teachers thought her to have. She demurely placed her hands in her lap, raising her head only slightly. "I was wondering if I could perhaps have you sign a slip for the Restricted Section."

Slughorn's genial smile slipped a bit; nervously he cleared his throat, "Restricted Section? I don't think that would be wise; there are a lot of dangerous potions in those books." Lily tried to keep the grimace from showing on her face.

"Professor, it would only be used in your presence." She said earnestly. Here's were she had to lay it on thick. "Can I trust you Professor?" Lily wiped at the non existent tears at the corner of her eyes.

"Of course, my dear." He looked a bit alarmed but sat up a little straighter. "You see, Severus Snape and I are very good friends. We both want to work someday at St. Mungo's." she paused taking an exaggerated deep breath she plunged on.

"St. Mungo's only hires about two potions masters a year. I would like to have the best opportunity possible as would Severus. I sincerely believe we could have that edge if you would give us your expertise on our best potions." She clutched her hands nervously hoping he'd bought the story.

Slughorn preened like a peacock, "I would obviously not deny you a chance to learn the art of elegant potion making. I will lend you my personal copy of Most Potente Potion."

Lily inwardly grinned in relief, "but you must show me your choices before I agree to judge. Nothing dangerous or dark arts related."

Lily jumped from her chair, giving her profuse thanks to the indulgent Professor. He reached around his desk, eliciting a pop from a hidden compartment. "Here you go, Miss Evans." Lily took the book and hugging it to her chest she made her exit.

"Miss Evans, my sincerest apologies on my lack of faith in your acting." Severus announced perfectly mimicking Slughorn's fussy tone. "Why thank you, Mr. Snape." She replied curtsying delicately.

"How interesting, Snivelus and Evans." Severus immediately turned a stony face to James and co. "Hi, Lily." Remus said waving at Lily. "Hi Remus, are you feeling better," Lily inquired gently. "Yes, much thank you." He replied politely.

Severus looked from Remus to Lily, "I'll leave you to your new friends, Evans," his disgusted tone evident of his feelings at her greeting the enemy. "Sev!" he marched off not bothering to answer her.

"Oh look, the lovebirds had a spat." Sirius remarked. "What do hell does that mean?" James asked shoving Sirius hard. "Hey, it was just a joke." He claimed defensively. "You're right, like she'd ever look at Snivelus like that." James said pompously.

"Shows what you know, Potter." Lily spat, "See you around Remus." She swung her hair, nearly smacking James with it.

"You prat, nice going." James said smacking Sirius. "What I do? You're the one who insulted her best friend." Sirius cried. Remus rolled his eyes at their antics, he wouldn't be surprised if Lily and Severus became more than friends this year.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here you are. An incredibly long chapter from me.**

**I recommend listening to Skyline Drive by Mae. It really captures Severus and Lily's **

**relationship. At least that's what I think.**

**Enjoy... Reviews are lovely and Flames will keep my hamster warm. (not that I have one but if I did, well they would keep him warm.)**

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"Professor, Professor." Lily shouted at him, her book bag thumping against her back painfully. "Miss Evans." Slughorn stopped and his face cracked into a instant smile at the sight of his favorite pupil.

"Professor about that be…I mean the demonstration of Severus Snape's potion as well as my own" she hesitated. This had to be according to plan. "When would be a good time to have you judge them?" she finally asked.

"I am free to evaluate them whenever you are ready. I daresay after dinner in my office. No need to do things on an empty stomach." he chuckled. Lily bit the inside of her cheek. She doubted that Prof. Slughorn had ever gone hungry let alone have an empty stomach. "Of course. We will set up everything we need before dinner." she said.

Slughorn nodded and resumed his walk. Lily ran to Gryffindor tower and dropped her bag on her bed. Her red head was buried beneath her bed, desperate to get the ingredients that Snape and her had smuggled out of the Potions Classroom.

Grabbing her supplies she knocked down Remus as he was climbing into the portrait hole. "Sorry Remus!" she said, pulling him up. Remus dusted himself off, "It's alright. Dinner's not over yet if that's why you're hurrying." he replied bending down and picking up her scattered vials.

"Not everybody thinks with their stomach." she laughed at the embarrassed look on his face. "See you later." she said as she clambered out. Remus watched her hurry out. The portrait closed and he noticed something laying by the entrance. He picked up the vial. Its light blue color swirling. "I hope she didn't need this one."

Lily continued her hurried journey to the dungeons. She knew she was being irrational but she just wanted to test her draught of peace one last time.

She was sure she had perfected it. Having tested out on Severus and knowing it had been an obvious success wasn't a complete reassurance.

Most students had been very surprised by how easy going Severus had been all day, especially if you judged by his encounter with James and Sirius after the quidditch match.

She was definitely going to beat Severus, **'What do I want from him?' **She could literally see the question floating in her cauldron, the problem was she had no idea what the answer was and that scared her.

**Earlier that week at the Quidditch Match**

Lily had spent the better part of her morning in the potions classroom, determined to beat Severus. **'Friendly wager, my foot.' **She thought as she spied Severus putting ridiculously complicated touches on his potion. He had grinned at her with his usual smirk and for once Lily was not gonna play fair.

He had left her over an hour ago. Feeling tired from staring too long into her cauldron, she decided to search for him. Today was a match, so she headed to the Quidditch pitch.

She spotted his raven hair and jaunty green scarf flapping in the wild wind. Lily grimaced at the amount of green between herself and him. She suddenly wished she didn't have this bizarre reason to prove her house's qualities.

She sighed and slipped into the seat next to him, ignoring the glances from Slytherins on either side of her.

"What." she snapped at a particularly nosy witch who kept eyeing her. Severus realized the abuse that Lily was taking and rose.

He stomped down the stands, his feet making contact with a lot of his classmates but a nasty smile kept them from voicing a complaint. "We didn't have to leave you know." she said. "I don't like crowds, Lily." he responded but Lily smiled at the cute little blush that stole over his austere features.

They leaned against the stands, hearing the screaming and occasionally peeking out to see what was going on. "Gryffindor is up by 20 points." she mentioned. He shrugged, neither of them were much for Quidditch. "What's in the paper?" he asked motioning to the linen square in her hand. "I brought you something." she said.

Lily unwrapped the linen napkin, in the middle sat a big square brownie. "I saw you skipped breakfast, so I snuck down to the kitchens and snagged us a treat." she said breaking up the square in two.

They munched in companionable silence. Severus was aware of her eyes on him. He wondered if he had something on his face. He knew he wasn't Black and Potter material and he looked down at his shoes embarrassed. "I hate when you do that." she huffed and smacked the back of his head.

He looked up and she grinned at him, "Let's go the game is over and I don't want to run into…too late." she muttered. Severus rolled his eyes as he spotted the scarlet and gold uniform of the Gryffindor team. James was sauntering towards them.

His hand holding his bat in perfect imitation of a caveman. Severus snickered at this mental image and Lily stared at him gob smacked. **'Yep its working.' **she thought proudly. She had slipped him the draught of peace.

She had originally been a little worried that she hadn't sectioned off the brownie properly before she soaked it. However she was pretty confident that she was not affected by it and continued to admire their surroundings in a very genial sort of way.

James and Sirius stopped and James immediately began talking to Lily. She was so happy not to see that anxious and tense look on Severus that she was willing to put up with James' obnoxious behavior. "So Evans, when you gonna start hanging out with me instead of Snivellus." he asked.

Severus smiled at James and leaned closer to Lily. "I'm sorry James but we have very important work to do." he replied deadpan. Sirius stared at Severus as if he'd grown another head and yelped as James accidentally dropped his beaters bat on his foot.

"You heard him." she said biting her lip to keep from laughing at James' stupefied face. "Lovely conversation, we should do it again." Severus shouted as Lily laughter finally escaped confinement. "They'll think you've gone mad." she said. "You're terrible."

They hung onto each other, laughing hysterically at the expressions they had left behind.

Tears were streaming down her face and she had to stop and catch her breath. She straightened and faced him, "I guarantee you that will be all over the school by tomorrow." Lily said. "You're the one who slipped me that draught of peace." Severus said.

Lily smiled, "I figured you'd catch on sooner or later." Severus stared down at her face and gently wiped the tears from her face. "I hope it's the last time I see you cry." he said sobering them both.

Surprised by his actions, Lily just nodded and without a thought laced her fingers through his.


	5. Chapter 5

**It's coming to a close. It makes me so terribly sad and yet happy at the same time.**

**It's been an awesome story. Thank you to all my reviewers.**

**Just One or maybe Two chapter left...Enjoy**

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"Sev? Where are you." She searched the great hall, the dueling club, the dungeons and the lake but still no sign of him anywhere. **'Dammit I can't start the stupid thing without him.'**

**'I could…but that wouldn't be fair.'** She thought chewing her hair thoughtfully. "I did tell him it was after dinner. If he doesn't show, well that's not really my fault is it?" she said out loud. She looked about grateful no one was around; even in the wizarding world talking to yourself was not a good sign.

Having decided that all was fair, Lily ran back to the Gryffindor common room to collect the rest of her ingredients. "Password?" the fat lady asked.

**'Why was it, anytime she forgot the blasted password there was nobody helpful around?' **She was gonna be late and all her stuff was inside her room. "Son of a newt!"

"Lily Evans. Such language and to think the teachers think you're such a good girl. For shame." She whirled around startled to see Remus Lupin smiling and shaking his finger at her.

"Let's keep this between us, ay Lupin. I wouldn't my good reputation tarnished." She smirked.

Lupin rolled his eyes, "It's amazing James thinks he has a chance with you." He mumbled. "Loves a Cornucopia." He said to the portrait.

"It's supposed to be a password not a pass sentence." Lily huffed. "One day someone's gonna make a list of all your ridiculous passwords and then what'll you do."

"Well, I never…" the portrait began but Lily waved it off.

"Did you forget something?" Lupin asked as he sat down to do homework. He rummaged through his stitched up bag missing Lily's confused look.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were here earlier before dinner and then you came and went about five minutes ago. You dropped this." He fished out the blue vial she'd dropped earlier and handed it to her. "I thought that was why you came, cause you forgot this."

"Lily? Lily?" he waved his hand in front of her. "Is something the matter?" the blazing look on her face was enough for him to stop his interrogation.

"That no good son of a. Ugh I can't believe I was so stupid." Lily was scaring poor Remus but she didn't care. **'No wonder I couldn't find** **him.'** She slammed the vial down on the table, spraying Remus.

She ran for the portrait hole, shoving the two boys coming in. "That double crossing Slytherin." She shouted and slammed the portrait.

"What the hell happened?" Sirius asked tossing his robe onto a nearby chair. "I'm not really sure, but she was very angry." Remus replied.

"She's beautiful but I'd hate to be the poor sod that gets in her way." Sirius remarked. "You have got your work cut out for you, mate." He said patting James on the back.

**'Slytherin?'** James knew of only one that Lily associated with and he didn't like. Nope he didn't like it one bit.

**Slughorn's Office – Dungeons**

"Excellent work, Miss Evans." Slughorn beamed at the beautiful colors swirling in the cauldron. "I've yet to sample it but its very sight is a spectacular presentation of potion ingredients mixed to perfection."

Lily eyed him a bit strangely but inclined her head regally. "Why thank you, Professor. I couldn't excel without the tutelage of such a skillful potions master." She replied.

"I do however feel most annoyed by young Severus. Surely this demonstration was of importance to him as well. Perhaps we should give the boy a few more minutes."

Lily began sweeping her work into smaller vials and packing them away in her bag. "Oh, no Professor. I don't think that would be wise. After all one of the key elements in potions besides ingredients is timing. A second more or less could ruin an entire batch."

Slughorn seemed to think this was valid point and waved her off. "You of course are correct my dear. In my very long career, I've come to the understanding that timing is an essential part of a great potion maker. You win by default. If you see young Severus tell him not to despair."

"Despair, sir?" she asked pausing at his classroom door. "With such a rare talent such as yourself to guide him; well he could make a potion master yet." He beamed at her.

"Yes, I will most definitely repeat that to him sir. I'm sure he'll find it informative." She replied stepping into the corridor and right smack into a steaming mad redhead.

"Hello Lily." **'Yep he was in trouble.'**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok, so I was thinking of doing an Epilogue. What do you guys think? **

**Hopefull, this won't seem so abrupt.**

**Enjoy....**

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"Severus."

**'She is angry....very angry.'**

"I can explain…ow ow ow." Severus cried as his crush and best friend led him out of the dungeons and to the second story girl's bathroom by his ear. Thankfully the corridors had been empty and no further injury was placed on his pride.

"I can't believe you did that. I could…" Lily released his ear just long enough to cast a locking charm on the door and round on him. "I didn't want you to let me win. I wanted to beat you fair and square. Sev. How could you?"

Severus had been busy rubbing circulation back into his ear but once he realized that Lily's distress was real he ceased his actions and went to her. "I thought this was just a silly bet. I didn't think you'd care. You're always saying that I have no sense of humor and I just wanted to prove you wrong."

Lily Evans never showed weakness and it galled her to be breaking down over something so stupid. "It's just everybody always treats me like some kind of fragile little princess. The teachers and my classmates and especially James all let me have my way like I'll break if I don't get everything I want. I have no one that lets me be my self, that lets me really work for anything expect you."

He stood still feeling horrible for making her spill such insecurities to someone like him. "I never thought you would do the same. I never thought you would try to protect me also."

He put down his bag wanting nothing more than to pull her into his arms, sadly he was not a Gryffindor and therefore not courageous. "I'm so sorry Lils. I didn't think about your feelings. I just didn't want you to be beholden to me. I figured if you won well that we could just go back to how we were before. No strings attached."

Lily shoved him and he made no move to stop her. "So you thought this was what was best for me, is that correct?"

Severus gulped at the sudden violent look in her green eyes. "Did it ever occur to you that I made this bet with you for a reason?"

"I…I…I never…I would not…" She was moving him closer to the wall trapping him between two of the columns.

"There's a lot you don't know about me Severus Snape. I'm gonna show you what happens when you assume," she shouted poking her finger painfully into his chest.

"Now, Lily." He was pretty sure she had just punctured his sternum. He resisted the urge to check for a hole since she was now looking at him in very malevolent way. "…let's be reasonable-" he began but was cut off by her spell.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

**Great Hall - Some Time Later**

"Evans. Hey Evans!"

Lily groaned but placed a stiff smile on her face, "Hey Pott--- eh…James."

"I've been looking all over for you. Can we talk?" James asked his earlier cocky demeanor replaced by extreme shyness now that his entourage was nowhere in sight.

"I guess." Lily agreed as she followed James to the Lake. Several students were sunning themselves while others played catch the pigmies and some hardier folks swam in the ice cold lake.

"Umm…as you probably already know, well I just wanted to ask you…if you would, maybe consider going with me to the next Hogsmeade weekend." he shuffled, nervous to hear her response.

The redhead studied him carefully answering his question with one of her own. "Why? Why do you like he--me? What is exactly your interest?"

"My interest?" James asked stupidly.

"Your interest. What do you get out of going out with me? I'm not exactly the most popular, so yeah I'm just curious." she said.

James was suddenly reminded of Severus Snape but couldn't quite figure out why. " I think you aren't what you portray. I mean you hang out with Snivellus so there's gotta be something to that. I just wanted a chance to get to know you."

"Oh."

"So will you go with me?" James asked again.

"I…uh…I'll let you know." She said and took off running her hand covering her hair. James watched her run off and back to the school. She neared the great doors and for a second he could have sworn he saw another redhead pull her in.

"Must have been a Weasley." James shrugged and went off in search of Remus and Sirius.

**Prefects Bathroom - Later that Day**

They arrived at the prefect's bathroom in record time. "What are we doing here?" Severus inquired nervously. He dreaded telling Lily what James had told him. He knew that he was no match for Potter and his fear was threatening to overwhelm him.

"So what did he tell you?"

Lily's usually composed face was flushed in anger. "I wish the stupid prat, would leave you alone." she whispered harshly as the red hair shortened and turned dark and greasy. She rose and dropped the robe before it could tighten on his much lankier frame. He retold her everything James had just told him while he stripped off Lily's spare uniform.

The real Lily turned away giving Severus privacy as the effects of the Polyjuice wore off and he was able to dress himself. She sat heavily at the end of the bath as she thought of what Severus had just imparted to her.

She had never assumed that James could be so insightful. Her misgivings about the Gryffindor boy had been for naught and it made her realize that she had been as biased as Severus had been. It struck her that her little joke of making Severus suffer James's attention in her place had backfired on her.

Her mind preoccupied. She jumped at the sudden contact of his arm around her. Severus sat next to her and pulled her to him in one fluid motion. Lily had never thought about her best friend as nurturing and again she saw how much of her assumptions were being challenged.

She had known for quite some time that he held a tender for her but she had always been on the fence about him. After all she did have a bit of a crush on James Potter whether she wanted to believe it or not, but sitting here with him in the dark and empty room made her aware how much she liked their alone time. It made her aware of how much she really treasured Severus and how much she really cared for him.

Without any of the awkwardness of their afternoon by the lake, the two teenagers leaned against each other. Lily removed her head from his shoulder and pushed him into the bath. Luckily for him it was empty, though that was not the least bit comforting when he fell on his bottom.

"Time to pay up, Sev!"

He smirked at her, "Fair is fair."

Lily pouted briefly, "Hey you're not supposed to be enjoying this." She remarked, placing her hands on her hips indignantly. So maybe she wasn't ready to admit how much in love she was with her best friend but that didn't mean she could enjoy her the outcome of their bet.

"I'm the one who's just an innocent victim." He teased, his arms making swimming motions in the empty bath. His face had that same happy look when she had held his hand after the Quidditch match.

"Innocent?" she arched an eyebrow in disbelief. "Get out of there, I'm not gonna give you a bath."

Climbing out easily, he followed Lily to a row of sinks. "I don't understand." Lily conjured up a plushy chair with an extendable board. It was just enough so his hair would hang in the sink.

"Scourgify," she shouted, ridding the sink of any dirt it may have had.

"You won and you want to wash my hair?" he asked incredulously not sure if he should be happy that she wanted to touch him in any way or insulted that she thought he needed it. **'She wants to run her hands through your hair and your questioning it? Are you daft? Just shut up and take it.'**

"I'm sick of James constantly picking on you about it, besides I bet you could give him a run for his galleons." She smirked with an evil little smile completely unaware of the turmoil she was putting the young Slytherin through.

He didn't think this would be a good idea but who was he to argue. He let her position him, conjuring two towels. She curled one and gently lifted his head, placing it in the groove of the board. "Don't want you to get a stiff neck, do we."

Severus closed his eyes, allowing himself to slip away. His mind was blank absorbing the sensations of Lily Evans, the girl he had been in love with all his life, sliding her hands through his hair. She deftly wetted his hair and he curiously lifted his head to look at her closely.

She smiled and resumed lovingly saturating each strand, until the sheer weight of it forced his head back once more. Lily hummed, squeezing a dollop of shampoo into her hand. She personally had never thought his hair was dirty she just wanted to play with it and this was the best excuse she had.

She had always wanted to do this. In all the time that she had known him, it had been painfully obvious that he had, had so little tenderness growing up that her heart ached for him. Besides she had a thing for his unkempt locks.

He could feel hands, massaging his head. The shampoo was strong but pleasant and he enjoyed how she rubbed his scalp with her fingertips.

Taking advantage of his relaxation, she scrutinized his face.

He wasn't handsome per se but there was a vulnerability that gave him a certain appeal. He had a hooked nose but it wasn't terribly noticeable. His face was slightly angular and very pale, his cheekbones standing out in sharp contrast to the rest of his features.

His hairline was just high enough to give him a semblance of a widow's peak and he had beautiful eyes. Dark and deep and very gentle, she had often lost her breath at the sight of those midnight eyes locked on her as if reading her very soul. **'Not that she'd ever tell him.'**

Her eyes strayed to his lips. They were thin but nicely shaped. She had a sudden insane idea, something that if it went wrong could very well ruin their friendship. She was startled out of her reverie by his sleep colored voice.

"I didn't mean to drift off…" the sentence was muffled abruptly.

Severus forgot to breathe for a second; her slightly chapped lips were warm against his. He kept his eyes open wanting to burn this image into his mind forever. Lily pulled away slowly, her lips trailing over his in slow motion.

"So does this mean we both won the bet?" he asked a shy smile emerging.

"I guess so." She smirked as she finished rinsing his hair. Once dry it was floppy and shinny. "I'll have to keep the girls away from you," she said nudging him playfully.

"Will you?" Lily nodded and tipped his head back. . "You've always had very nice hair. Don't sell yourself short. Sev." She caressed his jaw tenderly. Lily kissed him again and this time he kissed her back

"I don't think my hair will ever be the same again." The grin illuminated his face removing a lot of the self doubt and giving him a new air of confidence.

"Sev, I think we should have a rematch. This bet was won unfairly don't you agree?" she asked sitting lightly on his lap.

"Most unfairly, Miss Evans."

"So what should be bet on next, Mister Snape?"

"I don't care. All's fair in love and war, right Lils." he responded pecking her mouth again.

"Definitely Sev. Definitely." and with that last statement her red mane dipped and shielded them both from the outside world. He was hers to protect and she would relish every moment of it.


End file.
